Traditional, nutrient-dense food.

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This is a Greek-style Moussaka, with a creamy sauce that has a cheese-like taste (well, we haven’t eaten cheese in a while, so you might think differently!) The sauce is made without the addition of flour of any type, being thickened with eggs and optional arrowroot. This should serve 3 adults with side dishes of vegetables, or more if serving with rice or potatoes.

Ingredients

500g minced lamb

3 cups homemade lamb stock or broth

1 onion (I used red this time, just because that’s what I had)

4-6 tomatoes, depending on size and preference

2-3 aubergines

3-4 cloves garlic

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

3 cups homemade chicken stock/broth

2 eggs

1-2 tsp arrowroot (optional)

A few splashes of tamari soya sauce

About a tsp miso

sea salt and pepper

Method

In a frying pan, cook the mince till browned, stirring occasionally. Drain off the fat. Place the meat in a casserole dish or slow cooker with chopped onion, stock/broth, garlic, salt and pepper, herbs and spices. Cook in the oven for 6-8 hours at 120°C/250°F/Gas Mark 2, or equivalent slow cooker setting.

About an hour before serving, prepare the aubergine and sauce. Although traditionally olive oil is used to sauté the aubergine, I use coconut oil because it’s much healthier to cook with. Slice the aubergine and sauté in batches. Set aside and use the same pan to heat the chicken stock. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and mix with the arrowroot if using. Gradually add some of the warmed chicken stock until the egg mixture has thinned out and off the heat pour this into the pan whilst whisking – now this is the tricky part: turn on the heat again, keep it low and keep whisking – really, don’t stop or the egg cooks separately and so the sauce won’t be as smooth. It still tastes good, but doesn’t look that great! Once the sauce has thickened – about 5 minutes – remove from heat and add the tamari and miso, pepper and maybe a little salt – keep tasting it till you like it, and think about cheese if that helps!

Now remove the mince from the oven, slice the tomatoes and layer everything, starting with the meat, then the tomatoes, the aubergines and finally the sauce. Sometimes I do one layer of each, and sometimes I make two layers. It depends on the dish, the size of the tomatoes and aubergines and how much time you want to spend layering!

Finally, put it back in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. The dish above is quite shallow, if your dish is deep, it may take a little longer to heat through and so it might be necessary to cover the moussaka towards the end. The top should be nicely browned.

Since I started to eat meat again 2 years ago I have always felt gratitude towards the animal and wanted to honour them for their gift to me by making full use of the meat, bones and fat that I have bought. It begins to feel almost sacred when preparing heart. I feel enriched and very privileged when I eat this casserole.

Ingredients

2 lambs’ hearts

juice of 1-2 lemons

3 cups lamb stock

1 onion

3-4 tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

about 1 tbsp tomato puree

sea salt to taste

fresh basil

Method

Cube hearts and remove any tough tubes. Drench in lemon juice and leave to marinate in fridge overnight. In the morning drain and rinse. Brown in pan on stove top. Add all ingredients to a lidded ovenproof dish. Cook long and slow – usually I cook for 8 hours at 120°C/250°F/Gas mark 1/2. But if you haven’t got that much time, it is still very tasty when cooked for 4 hours at 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2.